1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a service for stably controlling a home network apparatus, and more particularly, to a home network controlling apparatus and method for obtaining encrypted device-control information from a server.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to the increased distribution of home networks, an existing network environment centered on PCs in houses is extending to include home appliances that use various low-level network technologies. Accordingly, a home network middleware standard such as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology has been proposed because of the necessity of a technique capable of networking these home appliances by using an IP protocol according to a standardized method.
UPnP technology defines a plurality of UPnP devices for providing services to a user, and a UPnP-dedicated control application, which is called a control point (CP), for controlling these devices.
The CP is an application which is installed in an apparatus equipped with a user interface, such as a PC and a TV, and controls a plurality of UPnP devices. The CP discovers various devices according to external inputs, obtains the capabilities of the discovered devices, and controls services of the devices by using a simple object access protocol (SOAP).
The UPnP devices are a PC, network equipment, a printer, and various audio/video (A/V) devices which are connected to a home network, and inform the CP of events generated by the UPnP devices. The UPnP devices provide a presentation web page to the CP so that the CP can control the devices and perform a state inquiry by using the web page.
As described above, in a UPnP device controlling method which is provided by conventional UPnP technology, a UPnP-dedicated control application, which is called a CP, is used, or a static presentation web page which is provided by UPnP devices is used.